Stanley drummed his fingers anxiously on the mattress as he watched his brother pull the bedroom door shut. There was no reason to do so - they were most certainly alone, in the general sense anyway. There was something about the action, though, that set Stan at ease. The self-steering program was taking good care of their journey toward the mainland, and with the door closed, not even a wayward seagull could interrupt the brothers.
"Alright, just one more thing," Stanford said as he walked over to the desk and pulled open a drawer to fetch not one, but three items from within it. One was Ford's newest jewel, Journal Number 4, along with a black pen, the end chewed off as usual.
The last item was a tinfoil hat, which he donned gleefully to his brother's intense annoyance.
Ford walked over to the bed and sat down cross-legged on the floor across from his very irritated brother. They sat in silence for a moment as Ford laid out the journal and pen by his side, a very agitated and sweaty Stan finally losing it.
"Okay, enough with the wise guy routine!" Stan exclaimed as he yanked the tinfoil hat off of his brother's head, ruffling Ford's grey hair in the process. Ford attempted half heartedly to grab it back, eventually sighing in defeat as Stan crushed it into a ball, his restless hands happy for something to play with to distract himself from the conversation about to take place. The bed creaked below Stanley as he sat on the edge of his lower bunk, looking down at his twin on the floor, his journal now open on his lap with his pen at the ready.
"Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood," Ford said, nervously twirling the pen between his six fingers.
"It said it wouldn't help anyways," Stan grumbled. Ford sat up straighter, blinking a couple times, not quite sure he'd heard that right.
"Stanley, did you just say 'it'?" Ford asked hesitantly, urgentness creeping into his voice. "Because if something is ta…"
"Ford, do you want me to tell you or are you just gonna keep making jokes and asking stupid questions?" he exclaimed. Ford's eyebrows shot up as he drew his mouth into a hard line, zipped closed. The pen began to fly across a fresh page. Stan sighed as he fell back onto the bed.
"YOU'RE STUPIDER THAN YOU LOOK IF YOU THINK TELLING YOUR PARANOID BROTHER IS GONNA SOLVE ANYTHING! JUST DON'T BLAME ME WHEN YOU WIND UP IN THE LOONY BIN, PAL!"
Stan lied there stiff as board, his eyes wide as he swallowed hard. It was right… what could Ford even do other than observe him like a lab rat? It's not like his brother could fix this - how could he? Stan was losing his mind, just like their father had before them…
And suddenly Ford's hand was on his brother's shoulder.
"Stanley, listen to me," Ford started, leaning against the bedside wall as the aged wrinkles on his forehead drew up in concern. Sometimes Stan forgot how old the two men had become after all this time apart. "Look, I don't know what's going on, but whatever it is… I'm here for you. You can tell me anything, Stan - we're brothers." Ford smiled sincerely.
"YOU LISTEN TO ME, STAN PINES - YOU CAN DO THIS THE EASY WAY OR THE HARD WAY. IF YOU SAY ANYTHI…"
"You promise you're not gonna think I'm crazy? Or start reaching around in my brain with some kinda nerd thing?" Stan grumbled, his eyes squeezed shut as he gathered his resolve. Ford chuckled.
"I can't make any promises regarding any 'nerd things,' but I don't think you're crazy, Stanley," Ford reassured, squeezing his brother's shoulder. "Go ahead."
After this there was no more pretending that everything was okay. He opened his eyes, and Ford was still right there. He took a deep breath..
"YOU'RE MAKING A BIG MISTAKE, BUDDY!"
And breathed out.
"Okay," Stan relinquished, squeezing the tinfoil ball as tight as he could in his hand, and then dropping the condensed piece of metal on to the ground. "Here it is… all of it."
Ford sat on the ground in stunned silence, Stan anxiously perched on the edge of the bed.
"So… what's the verdict, poindexter?" Stan asked, his voice a bit hitched. He watched as Ford picked up the journal again, quickly mapping together the pages of fresh notes he'd scrawled out while Stan had painfully recalled the goings on of the past two weeks. Ford's expression was unreadable, his eyes darting between scribbled words and his brother's face. Stan could make out the word AXOLOTL circled multiple times.
"It's not good, Stanley," Ford replied sombrely, not breaking his gaze from the book. His twin audibly gulped. "Tell me, Stan, do you hear any voices right now?" Stanley paused for a moment, taking in the silence.
"No, nothing," Stan replied, his hand nervously retreating to the back of his head. "I mean, it comes and goes, so…"
"...so it's hard to tell, yes, I understand," Ford finished his thought for him. Stan grumbled in annoyance - he hated when Ford did that. "And how would you describe how you're feeling right now?" Stan could picture his own face turning red as lava as he stood up, erupting.
"I'm feeling a little pissed off that all you want to do is document me like some kind of lab experiment!" Stan exploded. "This is exactly why I didn't want to tell you about thi…!" he stopped mid-sentence, as he suddenly noticed the tears beading in his brother's eyes from behind his glasses. Ford tried to inconspicuously wipe them away, when he met his brother's gaze and let them fall. Stan pulled his brother into a tight embrace, Ford letting his head fall onto his brother's shoulder.
"I just can't believe you've been going through all of this on your own," Ford muttered, trying to sober himself up. He gently pushed off his brother to face him. "I understand why you didn't tell me but damn it, Stan, I could've tried to help…"
"Heh... yeah, well, you know me," Stan chuckled. "Like Mom used to say…"
"Stubborn as a mule in a cliche competition!" the two remarked at the same time, ending in a small fit of laughter. Stan put on his best swashbuckling smile, his hands landing on his hips as he tried to portray the utmost in confidence.
"Look, we've both been to hell and back. It's like you said, right? Whatever it is, we can deal with it," Stan said, flashing a toothy grin. Ford tried his hardest to smile back with gusto, but he could tell his brother wasn't buying it. "Jeez, whatever you have to tell me must be really bad." Ford sighed in response.
"We've always been straight shooters, Stan, so I'll give it to you straight. I can't know for sure yet, but with the evidence you've provided me with here and everything I know, this all seems to be pointing to a… theory. But there's good news as well, I suppose," Ford said.
"Okay, well, what's the good news, doc?" Stan asked, chuckling nervously.
"The good news is that you're not insane," Ford responded, to Stan's immediate and immense relief. "I was wondering myself if you were experiencing any of the sanity loss or paranoia that Fiddleford suffered from after his self-infliction by the memory-gun, but you don't seem any dumber than usual, no offence."
"None taken," Stan shrugged.
"But then there's the bad news…" Ford trailed off as he began to pace the room. Ford looked over to his brother. "Just keep in mind it's only a theory, it may not even...
"Just spit it out, Ford!" Stan exclaimed. "Anyway, it can't possibly be worse than everything we went through this summer…" he scoffed. Ford looked to his brother with a hardened gaze.
"I think…" Ford stumbled, sighing as he finally made himself say it. "I think someone may have hitched a ride on your returning memories, Stan."
"I don't understand…" Stanley murmured, trying to stay calm amidst his suddenly fast-beating heart. "What are you saying, Ford?"
"I'm saying that your memories aren't the only thing that survived that memory-gun," Ford said, staring straight ahead and trying his damnedest to appear unafraid. "I think Bill is still alive."
Author's Note:
Phew! Hope that wasn't too much Stan-angst for ya! So the yellow elephant is in the room now. Poor Stans, thought it was over when really I get to torture these two old men for a while longer... Next chapter's going to be set out in the wide world! The Stans are going adventuring in Iceland before they head home, should be more exciting and less 'necessary explanation' type of stuff. Hope to see you then! As usual, comments are hugely appreciated - I love reading people's thoughts/expectations/suggestions!